Research Excellence and Impact

Research at the Institute focuses on basic and clinical research related to neurological disorders research. The mission is to translate neuroscience discovery research into treatments for patients with neurological diseases. Interactions within the UCL Research, the UCL Neuroscience and National Hospital are extensive and fruitful.

Please also see the following pages for further information on specific areas of research:

Research excellenceContinuing the record of exceptional achievement in previous Research Assessments (RAE), the Institute performed very strongly in REF2014 within Unit of Assessment (UoA) 4, Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience. UCL came top overall in both the standard power measure and combined 4* and 3* work in this UoA.

Overall, 83 per cent of the submission was rated ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (4*/3*), with 74% of research outputs given these ratings. The research environment was given a 100% world-leading rating and the impact was judged to be over 97% world leading or internationally excellent. The Institute submitted 163 staff , of whom 17 were early career researchers. Over 92% of eligible staff were submitted to this UoA.

RAND report shows that UCL has the highest share of highly cited publications in Neurology in EnglandAn independent report by RAND (2015) which examined highly-cited research, i.e. research publications falling into the top 20% for citations in their year and field, showed that UCL has the highest share of Highly Cited Publications (HCPs) in Neuroimaging (21.1%), Neurosciences (18.1%) andClinical neurology (15.6%) and in the Dementias Highlight Area (15.5%) – in all cases significantly more than the nearest competitor.

Neuroimaging is one of only two subject areas covered in the analysis where one HEI has over 20% of all HCPs

UCL Neuroscience is currently rated second in the world by ISI Essential Science Indicators, and several of the most highly cited authors working worldwide in neuroscience and behaviour are based at the IoN.

The Institute currently holds over 578 active grants, for research from the principal medical charities concerned with neurological diseases, and from government agencies such as the Medical Research Council. Generous support for research is also provided through grant awards from the Brain Research UK and we also receive significant philanthropic support.